Huge operation signals France’s new Afghanistan in Mali

In January 20-13 France launched an offensive in the West African nation of Mali. Paris claimed that the offensive is against local al-Qaeda-linked fighters. But the fighting in Mali never really stopped. Renewed violence has led to fresh large-scale operations by the French-led UN forces. Many wonder whether or when the war will come to an end at all.

Continued fighting in Mali has caused France to announce their largest offensive since the start of the war. The warnings that Mali would turn into a “French Afghanistan”, or “Malistan”, increasingly appear to have been justified.
Support for the war among the French public is down to 52% after widespread approval at the start of the conflict. That number is expected to drop even further as the war grinds on with no end in sight.
Analysts have long noted that the root of the conflict is not religious extremism, but the century-long marginalization of the ethnic Tauregs of northern Mali. For the inhabitants of the southern Mali delta, their alliance with French colonialists has not been very successful either, as Mali is usually ranked among the 10 poorest countries in the world.
The multinational force approved by the UN - long after France unilaterally launched its intervention - still has only half the troops it was mandated. Even after they take over, France plans to permanently station at least 1,000 troops in Mali to protect French interests.